When judging a public speaking contest, you need to describe not just what the speakers say, but how they say it. In French, many adverbs of manner are formed directly from adjectives.
Adjectives ending in -ant
If a masculine adjective ends in -ant, form the adverb by replacing -ant with -amment.
| The first speaker is really brilliant. | Le premier orateur est vraiment brillant. |
| He brilliantly defended this argument. | Il a brillamment défendu cet argument. |
| The audience is about to applaud loudly. | Le public est sur le point d'applaudir bruyamment. |
Adjectives ending in -ent
Similarly, if an adjective ends in -ent, replace the -ent with -emment.
| She is intelligent, and she speaks intelligently. | Elle est intelligente, et elle parle intelligemment. |
| Moreover, this candidate is very eloquent. | D'ailleurs, ce candidat est très éloquent. |
| The speaker explained his argument eloquently. | L'orateur a expliqué son argument éloquemment. |
Pronunciation tip: Even though they are spelled differently, the endings -amment and -emment are pronounced exactly the same way.
You can use these adverbs freely to add vivid detail to your sentences, showing exactly how someone performed an action.
| They arrived and listened patiently. | Ils sont arrivés et ont écouté patiemment. |
| Did she analyze the problem differently? | Est-ce qu'elle a analysé le problème différemment ? |
| She finished brilliantly, and the audience reacted loudly. | Elle a fini brillamment, et le public a réagi bruyamment. |
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